Sunday, September 25, 2016

Border Crossing

My wife and I took a scenic drive yesterday and ended up in Canada
(this is one of the great things about living in Seattle). Thus, we had
to cross the U.S.-Canada border there and back. National border
crossings always seem a bit absurd to me; an artificial line drawn in
the ground by humans, draped with nationalistic trappings and guarded by
gates and lethal weapons.

Borders make me think (admittedly a little out of context here) of something Thoreau wrote: "I saw the fences
half consumed, their ends lost in the middle of the prairie, and some
worldly miser with a surveyor looking after his bounds, while heaven had
taken place around him, and he did not see the angels going to and fro,
but was looking for an old post-hole in the midst of paradise."

The Canadian border guard on the crossing northward was cordial. His
main concern seemed to be that we weren't bringing any guns across with
us (perhaps the mass shooting a day before in a shopping mall a few
miles down the road in Burlington, Washington had created heightened
concern). He gave us some tips on sights to see while in British
Columbia for the day.

The U.S. border guard on the way back was
terse and unfriendly as he conducted his interrogation into our
activities and intentions. He conveyed the sense that we were under
great suspicion for having left the U.S. for a few hours, and any
unacceptable answers might detour us into the land of holding cells and
cavity searches. He was a young man, and seemed to have left his sense
of humor at home, perhaps stowing it away safely in the metal box where
he keeps his sidearm when off-duty from the border booth. I'm guessing
(hoping) that his steely-eyed, brusque demeanor is merely an
affectation-- a role that he plays, like the actors who portray tough
guys in crime dramas and war movies.

1 Comments:

Danny, I've had the same experience every time I've crossed the border from the US into Canada and back--in Vermont, in New York, in Washington, and in Idaho. The Canadian border personnel are unfailingly courteous and welcoming, the US personnel, surly and rude. I hope that non-citizens are treated with more consideration by our US border personnel!